Alex Kingston Central

Doctor Who: Big Finish, Alex Kingston Team for New River Song Stories

Alex Kingston will return as River Song for a new round of Big Finish's Doctor Who audio dramas set AFTER "Silence in the Library."

Now that Steven Moffat is back writing for Doctor Who, fans are speculating about whether River Song will be back. Alex Kingston certainly hasn't made it a secret that she would love to play the character again. But River Song never really went away. She's been headlining a River Song series in audio dramas from Big Finish for years since she had her final story on Doctor Who. Now she will star in The Death and Life of River Song, a brand-new series of full-cast audio dramas coming soon from Big Finish Productions. It's like a whole new season of River Song adventures – and the latest.

In case you didn't know, River Song is an archaeologist from the 52nd century, born and raised to be an assassin, destined to marry her intended target, and to have many of her own adventures too – Professor River Song's very messy timeline began (or maybe ended) when she first appeared in the 2008 Doctor Who TV episode Silence in the Library. Since then, Kingston has reprised the role in her own series of Doctor Who audio spinoffs, including The Diary of River Song, which ran from 2015 to 2023. Now, in August 2024, she will return in a brand-new series, The Death and Life of River Song.

The first box set in the series, Last Words, is written by Robert Valentine. It begins with River, after settling down to an afterlife in the Library's computer core, finding herself waking up in Earth's future, her consciousness having been temporarily transferred to a new body.

Alex Kingston said that River's stories at Big Finish have moved beyond her death in Doctor Who: "We have gone post-Library! We've done another episode in the past where I was within the database, which I loved, and I thought that's the only way you could go forward with River, given her situation. So, I was actually really surprised when this box set came my way and that we are now so far advanced in the history of Earth that she is able to be brought out as data and put into a cloned body. So very, very clever!"

Producer David Richardson added: "When every single day during the recording, your leading actress says "This script is brilliant," you know you're onto a good thing. Even better, at the end of the last day, Alex popped the script in her bag and announced that she loved Last Words so much she was taking it home to keep and treasure."

The Death and Life of River Song: Last Words is now available for pre-order exclusively here, either as a collector's edition four-CD box set for £29.99 or as a digital download for £22.99 per volume. Big Finish listeners can also pre-order a bundle with Last Words as well as Volumes 2 and 3 of The Death and Life of River Song, which are both due for release in 2025, for just £80 (collector's edition CDs + downloads) or £66 (downloads only). [X]

10.1 The Two Rivers by Tim Foley

River Song finds herself on an irresistible mission - investigating the tomb of the legendary River Song! Except the statues don't resemble her and the tomb contains the body of someone very different... or does it?

10.2 Beauty on the Inside by Lizzie Hopley

It would seem to be a perfectly ordinary painting of a forgettable royal family - so why did a biochemist smuggle it out of a closed colony at the cost of her own life? River is determined to find out.

10.3 Black Friday by Lauren Mooney and Stewart Pringle

Omnia Forum might just be the greatest shop in the galaxy and it’s celebrating two hundred years at the heart of the retail sector. But when River attends the celebratory gala she finds it less ‘everything must go’ and more ‘everything has gone’… apart from the Autons.

10.4 Firewall by Barnaby Kay

River is living her dream life with her dream husband. But every paradise has a serpent and this husband might not quite be up to the task.

2.2 The Diary of River Song: Five Twenty-Nine

FREE audiobook starring: Alex Kingston with her daughter, Salome Haertel, on the Big Finish website

Happy 57th Birthday, Alex Kingston!

(photos from the 2018 recording of “The Diary of River Song” at Big Finish) [x]

Together at last! Captain Jack meets River Song [x]

The Lives of Captain Jack (Vol 3), with River Song and Captain Jack!  John Barrowman returns as the irrepressible Captain Jack Harkness, fresh from his latest surprise appearance in Doctor Who, in three new full-cast audio adventures from Big Finish.

Fans have been dreaming of this for years and it’s finally happening! Captain Jack Harkness, former companion of the Doctor, and Professor River Song, The Doctor’s wife, are going to team up in three new stories produced by Big Finish Productions.

Actor John Barrowman said: “Alex Kingston and I have talked about this for years. We knew that the fanbase always wanted River and Jack to meet, or to cross timelines, and we just never knew when it would happen. Alex and I were always game for it and, thanks to Big Finish, this is where it’s happening.  

“It’s like Jack is the male River and River is the female Jack. There are all sorts of comparisons in their behaviours and how they react; the verve and vivacious passion they have for solving problems; getting to the heart of the action and adventure; the determination to get what they want, but also the sadness behind both of their eyes.”  

Co-star Alex Kingston added: “I’ve always imagined that, when River’s not on adventures with the Doctor, she’s somewhere having fun with Captain Jack. I’ve always had that at the back of my head. John Barrowman and I get on so well, and whenever we’ve met at conventions, it’s the one request that the fans have come up with more than any other. We have a lot of fun together so it’s something we’ve both been pushing independently for. I was so thrilled to find out that our dream has come true.”